Cotton module builders are used for assembling a module, or formed block of packed cotton, from a harvester, in preparation for the cotton to be transported to a cotton gin. The gin combs the cotton fibers, separates the desirable lint from the seeds, discards stems, and weed components, and readies the combed lint cotton for further processing into batting, milling into sliver and thread and other uses for cotton. Because harvested cotton is fluffy and takes up significant transport space, the building of a compressed module for storage, transport and further processing is an important and necessary step in cotton processing.
Historically, cotton was dumped from a storage basket integral to a cotton harvester picker or stripper and from the storage basket into a trailer for transporting the seed cotton to a gin. Modern practices employ a module builder which receives harvested cotton and forms a block of compressed cotton ready for transport to a gin. The module of compressed cotton is intended to reduce the number of loads to the gin because the cotton is compressed. Module builders have, before the present invention been seen to lack efficiency, require additional equipment and operators, be too slow in processing, have too little capacity and not be as advanced as possible.
The present invention is considered to improve upon prior module builders and is targeted toward improving capacity, efficiency, speed and reduction of additional equipment and operators.